


Catharsis

by teicakes



Series: That Fucky Mer AU [5]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Blow Jobs, Breeding Kink, Cervix Penetration, Cock Tease, Consensual Somnophilia, Consentacles, Edgeplay, Fluff, M/M, Masturbation, Other, Public Hand Jobs, Sexual Frustration, Somnophilia, Spitroasting, Tentacle Sex, Tentacles, UHM WHY IS CANADIAN BLOW JOB DAY A TAG???, mermaid au, octopus kolivan, seahorse keith, starting slow but dont you worry defs more to come
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-23
Updated: 2020-01-04
Packaged: 2020-05-16 18:06:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19323349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teicakes/pseuds/teicakes
Summary: It's only been a few weeks since Keith found his way back to Kolivan, and already things are falling back into place like he's never left. But there's one thing, oneneedstill going unanswered, one thing Keith's waiting for and spring just can't come fast enough.Maybe... maybe he just needs a little something to help take his mind off it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> WE'RE BACK BABY! I completely and utterly missed mermay for updating thing, but good news is your girl passed her comprehensive exam so all that literature searching and report writing through the month was worth it all. 
> 
> This will likely end up as three chapters, though depending on how I want to break up future installments there might be a few more. I was planning on this chapter being a little longer, but I think in the long run this fits the flow a little better and I can't wait to post the next bit. Hope you're all doing well and happy official start of summer! <3

The first day he mainly slept, either in Kolivan’s arms or a sling of sails and seaweed as the worst his aches and pains left him, but by three days he was already back on his fins and scuttling around Kolivan’s home, dusting and cleaning. He’d missed it, he realized. The size, the light, even Kolivan’s many little piles of knick knacks stacked high or strewn all over the place, and sorting through the clutter gave him something to do as he recovered. In the span of one afternoon he’d managed to sort Kolivan’s collection of broken china into something resembling order, even going so far as to fit pieces of the most broken cups together.

Just under a week after their reunion he ventured out with Kolivan, back to his own home. He was still a little unsteady, taking a breather or two on swim back to his cave, but other than the dull cramping of exertion in his middle he felt lighter than he’d been in days. He was back. Back where he wanted to be.

Keith stretches and slows his pace. He can see the bank that hides his home now, a rise out of the seafloor with several gentle hills of sand and seaflora. As nice as Kolivan’s place was, he’d always like the light in front of where he’d settled. It was bright, a big expanse of open sand strewn with rocks and coral, with the edge of the kelp forest just behind it. The perfect blend of camouflage and space.

Kolivan swims right past Keith’s shelf, tentacles swaying in time with the weeds over Keith’s roof. He pauses on top, looking out over the drop down to the forest below, then back at him.

“Is it much farther?”

“Actually…” Keith says, eyes flicking down to the tips of Kolivan’s suckers. “We’re here. You’re on top of it.”

Kolivan gawks at him and he can’t help the flush of embarrassment that creeps into his cheeks. Kolivan’s circling around the top of his home, trying to figure out just _where_ the sand mound ends and his place begins. His eyes sweep completely past the small seaweed covered shelf that hid the entrance to his lair, almost as if… well… because he didn’t believe it was here.

“It’s small,” Keith offers, cheeks now several shades darker as he realizes how this must seem like a hole in the wall compared to what Kolivan was used to. Still… it wasn’t exactly like he _needed_ more space.

“I… I’m sure it’s quite cozy,” Kolivan coughs, inspecting the many little anemones and shells Keith had planted in the area. “I’d never have thought there was anyone living here.”

“That’s kinda what I was going for,” Keith laughs, collecting a few bundles of sea lettuce that had bloomed since he was last home. “Always nice to have a bit of peace and quiet. Seahorses aren’t exactly the type that like to go around broadcasting where they are. Here, hold these for a sec while I grab a basket.”

The lettuce is discarded in Kolivan’s arms and Keith lets out a stream of bubbles as he skims the seabed for the entrance. That was the one problem with this place… in order to be so well hidden it had to be covered in weed, but all that weed meant that if he wasn’t around enough to see how it grew, he’d lose sight of the opening. He’d always debated marking it for ease, but, well… he wasn’t usually far away from it long. Not until he’d met Kolivan.

He sees it, an extra little ripple in the leaves, and he makes his move. In one fluid loop Keith dives through the narrow entrance and slips into his home.

Compared to Kolivan’s massive palace it’s nothing, but there’s always been something charming about Keith’s little home. He likes the shelves he managed to carve out into the walls, and many little holes he’d been able to make to let more light in, so the entire place is bathed in a soft yellow-green glow. All his things are still there, right where he’d left them, ready for him to pack up.

A shadow obscures the light, throwing half the room into darkness, and then there’s a squawk of alarm.

Kolivan’s tried to squeeze his way through the narrow entrance into Keith’s lair, only making it halfway before the bulk of his arms stopped him. He struggles, arms planted on the wall as he tries to worm his tentacles in as well. Keith watches in silent disbelief as he tries to cram two of his arms through the overstuffed gap, barely edging either of them in more than a handful of inches before he gets even more stuck, which only makes him thrash and wiggle even more. Eventually he falls still, arms flopping listlessly to his sides as he pouts up at Keith.

He has to hold back a grin at the sight of Kolivan looking like a jellyfish stuffed in a pipe. “You okay there?” he chuckles.

“I’m fine,” grunts Kolivan, voice dripping with frustration. “It’s your doorway that has issues. If you just give me several more moments, I’m quite sure I can make this work.”

Keith sizes up the size of the hole, eyes roaming down to the massive flare of muscular tentacles at Kolivan’s waist. “Uh huh,” he says. “Well, if you’re going to be several more moments, you might as well just hang tight. It shouldn’t take me too long to pack things up.”

Kolivan makes to protest, but a glance at his waist and back at Keith he seems to accept his fate.

To his credit, Keith tries to keep his packing brief. He’s got a lot of baskets and bags kicking around, he’s not exactly into having clutter everywhere after all. Still, there’s a lot of random odds and ends that get moved around his place, and he hadn’t exactly left it in pristine state last time he’d been here. He’s also got… a lot more stuff than he’d first thought. Even though there’s two of them and he’s only grabbing the things he wants the most, it might be a bit more of a chore than he’d first thought.

With Kolivan relegated to the wall, he’s forced to sort through things alone. Some are easy, like the odd decorative rock or worn out tool. Others, like his collection of useful scraps and building tools, is harder. Soon enough he’s got a number of piles going on the floor as he sorts through his shelves, finding some things he’d been looking for, others he’d honestly forgotten he’d even had. Like a set of motorboat keys some human had dropped. It takes him a while to decide to leave them here. They’re nice, but they aren’t exactly anything too special either.

“Don’t look so sulky,” he says, midway through sorting through his collection of net and rope. Kolivan makes another noise of exasperation and Keith rolls his eyes. “I’m almost done. Just a few more minutes.”

Kolivan’s fingers drum against the walls as he watches, Keith too far out of reach for him to touch or pat. He’s had to move to the far corner of his den to focus with how Kolivan’s arms liked to wander over him and pull him close, and clearly the octopus wasn’t taking it well. His mouth was worked into a pout, tips of his tentacles gesturing every so often with little twitches of  ‘come here’. Usually Kolivan was always blank faced and unexpressive, but ever since returning Keith had been catching him letting more and more of his feelings slip. Even the more childish ones, like now.

He flicks an empty hermit crab shell at Kolivan, holding back a laugh at how his ear fins flared up as the big merman startles. “These are the last things I have to go through before we’re done. If you let me focus I can finish faster.”

Kolivan lets out a sigh but relaxes back against the wall, arms crossed. Keith keeps going, looking over the final few bundles of rope for signs or wear and tear. He’s almost done, just checking the ends of one of his favourite hemp ropes, when there’s a stirring of dust to his left.

“God...dammit!” Kolivan grunts, hips wriggling as he tries to work more of himself through Keith’s front door. He gets an extra foot of tentacle through before giving up once more, now trying to work himself backwards and out of the hole. “Why do you live somewhere that’s so hard to get into?” He gets stuck on the arm he’d just shoved more of through and lets out an exasperated sigh.

“Because,” says Keith, watching as Kolivan grows progressively more flustered over being stuck. “It’s hidden, and safe from larger predators and merfolk. You’re doing a pretty good job of proving that right now.”

Kolivan lets out a cluck and tries to push more of himself back out the way he came. He looks annoyed, but Keith can tell not as much as he’s making a show of. After all, he _is_ trying to avoid spilling rubble into Keith’s baskets below him.

Keith swims over, planting a quick kiss to Kolivan’s cheek as he drops the last of his stuff into his bag. “Besides, it’s kind of cute to see you like this. Reminds me of how we met. Me... stuck in your wall, you… enjoying that. ‘Cept this time it’s the other way around.” He gives Kolivan’s ear fin a little pinch and a grin. “Too bad it’s you face in here and not the other side. Then we’d _really_ be back to day one.”

Kolivan makes a face like he’s about to protest again, but Keith shuts him up with a proper kiss.

It takes a good several shoves, his shoulder digging into the meat of Kolivan’s chest before the octopus is freed in a pop of silt and sandstone. He spins, arms windmilling about before he’s able to get a proper hold of himself and settle back somewhere closer to his usual grace.

Keith’s still grinning as he passes Kolivan his share of the load, the other’s cheeks a few shades brighter than usual.

“I could have-”

“I _know_ ,” Keith soothes with a pat to Kolivan’s shoulder. “You had the situation under control. I just decided I’d help speed things up.”

“Almost too fast...” He massages his ribs, wincing. “I didn’t think you’d be able to push that hard. Clearly you’re recovering well.”

“Yeah, well… Thanks to you. Seahorses bounce back fast after all.”

Kolivan lets out a huff, but there’s no hiding the way his whole face softens at the words. Keith likes this Kolivan. He’s still his same self, but his shell is cracked open, allowing just a little bit better of a glimpse at the soft interior of his heart.

He floats over to bump against Kolivan’s shoulder, the closest to a hug they can come with their arms laiden in items. Later, when they get back to Kolivan’s he’ll introduce him to some of the more interesting parts of his collections, the pocket watch filled with cogs and the several glass and plastic bricks covered in buttons he’d recovered from beneath the areas human party boats ventured. Maybe then he’d finally sway Kolivan into collecting newer sunken treasures than candlesticks and china.

They’re about halfway home when he spots them. Two figures, hovering just on the verge of fading into the deep blue. It’s hard to tell exactly who, but by their posture there’s no mistaking what they are. Merfolk.

Keith keeps looking over his shoulder, and everytime they’re still there, two hazy shadows on the verge of existence, swimming lazily behind them. A couple out for a stroll together? Or maybe just two friends hunting. It was a little strange, the fact they were following the same route he and Kolivan were, but then again they were taking the easiest currents. The other pair could easily be doing the same too.

He stops on the slope above Kolivan’s galleon, taking in how stripes of green-white sunlight rippled over the worn planks of the top deck. _Home_. There’s a swell in his chest at the thought.

Kolivan’s tentacle wraps around his waist, pulling him close to his side and ushering him down the slope. Keith nearly drops his baskets with the suddenness of it all.

“Kolivan… what?”

“ _Shh,_ ” the octopus hushes. “Let’s get back home.” There’s urgency in his tone, but Keith can’t quite pick out whether it’s nerves or excitement.

Keith nods slowly, pace speeding up ever so slightly.  

\------

Antok hangs around more now then before. It’s not unusual for Keith to wake up or break out of the spell of weaving a new net or bag to find the squid with him, either chatting with Kolivan or simply hanging around, lazing about in sunbeams. He’s still strange and hard to understand, Keith’s hearing barely able to pick up on his speech. They’ve gotten better at communicating with each other though, Keith tuning in more to Antok’s charades he can do with his many arms, and on rare occasions, even pressing a hand to one of them. It seems to help, the touch letting him pick up better on the vibrations of Antok’s voice, and even if he can’t exactly pick out every word he gets enough to even hold a few conversations with him.

Kolivan’s wary at first, and Keith isn’t going to lie, he was at well. He still remembers the time Antok asked Kolivan to share him with him, Kolivan’s stories of Antok having troubles finding a mate. But whether it’s Antok’s respect for him and Kolivan, or the fact that Kolivan could be truly terrifying when angry, Keith knows he’ll never ask that type of thing of Kolivan again.

That’d been made plenty clear when Kolivan had gone to destroy Sendak’s eggs after all.

That… Keith still shivers thinking about it. He’d managed to sneak out and watch, thanks to Antok. He’d been suspended in the squid’s arms, partially obscured in the net of his tentacles as he’d watched Kolivan crush an egg bare fisted in front of the other merman, bits of goo and membrane washing away in the currents. Sendak seething, Kolivan calm as ever as he removed another from the pouch at his side and began to squeeze. How Sendak’s spines had raised in attack and how two of Kolivan’s arms had jumped up in a flash, stripes glowing an ominous bright blue.

 _Oh man..._ Keith’s hands fist in his lap whenever he remembers it. How calm, almost casual Kolivan was about it all and how Sendak had shrunk back as soon as that’d happened. Kolivan’s blue marks… he’d never seen them bright like that before, and whatever they meant, they meant business. Business serious enough even a merman covered in weaponry was wary. There’d been a knife’s edge in Kolivan’s voice as Sendak’d backed down from that silent threat. Sharp authority. Even now, it still gets the blood rushing through him, making his skin flush all over with the power his mate’d carried in that instant.

_“If you ever touch him again, your eggs won’t be the only thing answering for it…”_

Kolivan… he likes him gentle, but at the same time, that edge, that _danger_ he let slip through every so often… he’s craving it more and more. Kolivan… stringing him up in his arms and using him, leaving him defenseless, unable to do more than submit to his mate’s will and the utter pleasure it brought with it. Sometimes… sometimes he’d think back to it… when Kolivan had bred him, on nights where Kolivan let him sleep on his own. His body’d grow warm, insides tingling as he slowly spread himself with two, three, five fingers… and still it didn’t come close to that feeling. He’d end up stirring himself up for what felt like hours, eventually reaching some release, but never… never quite what he was looking for.

It’s one of those nights, one where Kolivan’s out late hunting trying to catch something that’s still in the waters here during the winter. Antok’s on the deck above him, playing with cannonballs by the sounds of it, and Keith has four fingers inside himself, trying to rub up against his walls in something resembling Kolivan’s suckers. He can’t…. He can’t quite get it right, the locking and rolling of that bundle of nerves he never quite manages to find. It’s… it still good… still something… still…

He slides his thumb in as well, nails just grazing into the deeper reaches beyond his finger tips, and comes with a gasp. It’s a rush, but it’s over too fast, and the peak’s gone before he can even work his hand back out of himself.

He watches as a few drips of his release waft off his fingers and into the waters around him, little clouds amongst the clear.

It’s something. Just not enough.

Keith lays back in his hammock, watching as more of his release floats away as his other hand rests on his stomach, stroking just above his navel.

 _Soon…_ soon they’d be able to again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> //claws self back out of bangs and work hell to post
> 
> Been fighting a bit of a mental block lately (both for writing and just general life stuff. Disinfecting your whole apartment for moths apparently does that to you), but finally managing to make a return to this!

The waters are at their coldest now, but Keith doesn’t mind. Sure, he’s a little more sluggish than usual, a bit more likely to drift awry if he spaces out too much in a wayward current, but spending most of time with Kolivan in his ship means all that is far less important than when he’d been on his own. The ship’s better insulated against cold currents than his own home, and the plethora of collectables means even on the coldest nights he can piece something together to take the worst of the edge off.

Kolivan for his part though, does  _ not _ seem to enjoy the cold. Despite what Antok’s managed to get across to him about cephalopods and lower temperatures being no big deal, Kolivan’s downright avoiding leaving the ship on days when the currents pick up, instead preferring to stay indoors with Keith even when Antok reminds him it’s his turn to hunt. His tentacles too, Keith’s noticed, he’s holding them curled closed more now, so that instead of a great fan of legs he’s hobbling around the place like a seastar that’s gotten too fat for it’s little feelers. Whenever Keith points it out he huffs, unfurling them in silent protest and striding around confidently for a few paces, before slowly curling up once again. 

He’s also grabbier too, and Keith has no issues with that. Every so often Kolivan pulls Keith into his lap from wherever he is, tentacles coiling around him until they’re both wedged against each other’s warmth. Sometimes he just holds Keith there against him for hours, seahorse sized bundle pressed against his front as they go about their day. He never forces him to stay like that longer than he wants, but Keith’s tested him a little, just tugging against his arms enough to feel the octopi subconsciously react, suckers pressing more against his skin as if begging him to stay. 

_ A real cuddlepus _ , even if he refuses to admit it. 

They’re like that now, Keith’s tail braided into Kolivan’s arms, back against his chest as all three of them - Antok included - shell and tuck in to dinner. Today was one of the few days Kolivan’s agreed to go out, and they’ve got a plethora of shrimp for it. Keith eagerly peels back the shell, sucking out the sweet meat as Kolivan and Antok yammer on above him. 

“I’m telling you, I don’t have any secret hunting grounds. I just don’t go as deep as you, and sometimes staying near the surface pays off.”

_ That and he’d also taken a few of Keith’s finer woven nets with him _ . Being a slower mer meant ingenuity, and if a human just so  _ happened _ to leave some nice shrimp and crab catching traps at the bottom of the ocean, who was he to leave them there? He plucks another out of the basket, tip of his tail straining to touch the floorboards enough to get a sense of Antok’s reply.

“Really Antok, so long as you stay below the surface and away from shore the chances of humans spotting you are extremely low. You can spot their boats from miles away,  _ leagues _ if we’re talking about the awful noises they make.”

“They also really hate being on the water at night,” Keith adds at the forming of a wrinkle in Antok’s hood where his eyebrows should be. “I hear so much boat traffic during the day, but as soon as the sun sets it’s like there’s none of it. It’s usually calm enough that on moonless nights I’m fine to sneak up to the surface and watch the stars.”

“ _ Keith _ -”

“S’fine,” he shushes Kolivan with a haphazard pat somewhere in the vicinity of Kolivan’s chin. “I know what I’m doing. I don’t bioluminesce or anything and the waters are dark enough then that you can barely see a log at the surface, much less me.” He turns back to squid, now intensely focused on peeling a tiny shrimp with his enormous hands. “Is there some kind of reason you don’t like going near the surface or something?”

Antok lets out a low whine, sinking deeper into his many arms. There’s mumblings too, and if Keith just strains enough he can catch the tail end, “–sk Kolivan.”

“He’s a bit embarrassed about it Keith, I don’t know-”

Antok cuts him off with a wave of a sucker.

“But… if you’re comfortable with me telling him, then I will.” Kolivan stares at his friend for a second, earfins cocked. When Antok does little else than look up at him over his latest piece of shrimp, Kolivan continues. “Well, you see, Antok had a bit of a close call with some fishermen once. There was this glowing ball they had on their line, and since it looked so much like one of those deep sea jellies he likes so much…”

Antok flips up an arm, revealing several gashes on the underside of it. They’re clearly long healed, but still seeing them has Keith let out a little  _ oh _ of surprise. 

_ Got hooked _ , Antok rumbles.  _ Tricked me _ . 

“And nearly dragged you to the surface too. I can’t believe you managed to get out of all those hooks, let alone fall for it in the first place.”

Antok flicks a shell at Kolivan, grumbling something that sounds like swear words.  _ Easy mistake _ .  _ You would have _ -

“Yes, I know, we’ve had this conversation before. Anyone could have been hooked, but it was you. At least it served to help warn everyone else about those fishers. Even the normal squids wised up to it. They’ve moved their hunting grounds ages ago, but you’re still skulking around in the depths instead of coming back up like the rest of us.”

The squid gives Kolivan a look that screams  _ ‘easy for you to say’ _ , and Keith nearly chokes on his mouthful at the sheer sass of it all. Antok’s not usually this expressive, at least, not when they’re talking about his sore spots. 

“I just worry about you sometimes,” Kolivan presses, one arm wrapping around Keith as he bends down to grab another handful of shrimp. “You spend so much time on your own, I don’t even think you spend much time with other merfolk outside of myself and Thace. You need to put yourself out there more Antok, take a risk or two. You talk about never being able to meet anyone, but sometimes I can’t help but wonder if you’re still too scared after all that to wander out of your own territory enough to try.”

_ I try! I just… _ Antok’s two longest arms flop to his sides.  _ It’s hard to talk to breeders. _

“You talk to me okay,” Keith says. 

_ Different _ , Antok sighs.  _ You’re mated already. And not scared of being mated. _

Kolivan adjusts Keith in his lap, some of his arms wandering over Keith’s sides. “Most breeders tend to have trouble understanding him, like you do. The difference is, you aren’t worried about being caught and bred so you’ve taken the time to learn how to talk to him.”

“It’s still a challenge,” Keith huffs, tail tip now off the ground and away from most of the vibrations from Antok’s voice. Kolivan’s stroking his hips, tracing the ridges that wrap around his tail. “I mean… I’m not exactly an expert on all the merfolk in the area, but Antok, you seem nice enough. If you’re having troubles I’m sure loads of other merfolk are too.”

Even without contact on a hard surface, Keith can understand Antok’s next groan of frustration. 

“What’s that for?” frowns Kolivan. “Thace is still single to the best of my knowledge. Other than that fling he had a few seasons back he’s been in a dry spell as well.”

_ Not Thace _ , Antok sighs.  _ His friend. That one… the skittish one… _

“The one Thace keeps saying he’s worried will never be forward enough to find anyone? Wait,  _ him?! He found a mate? _ ” Pieces of shell drop onto Keith’s head as Kolivan gawks at Antok. “You’re joking. Thace always said he had next to no chance with merfolk outside his species, and even then that may have been pushing things. How on earth did he…”

Antok shrugs, flicking an empty shell over his shoulder.  _ Beats me. Apparently his mate likes to use his mouth.  _

“For… for what…” Keith swallows, but he’s already picturing it before Antok starts making lewd gestures. And oh…  _ oh…  _ he’s definitely picturing it now, lips wrapped around a long hard shaft, pushing against the back of his throat, wiggling against his tongue…

He readjusts himself in Kolivan’s lap, hoping neither of the others have noticed his earfins growing darker. 

Kolivan’s picking the litter out of Keith’s hair, voice a little faster than normal. “But… how can that be good. All those teeth… you’d have to be a fool to stick your member between them. What if they bit down? What if…” he raises his mating tentacle in front of his face, eyes wide. 

Keith’s are too, but for a different reason. He’s not thinking of teeth and risk, no, he’s staring at it, imaging how it’d feel against his tongue. He knows Kolivan secrets that sweet aphrodisiac from some tentacles. Does his mating tentacle as well? He can just see the slit on the underside of it, the little pocket that releases his eggs when ready. What about now? Would it… would it still feel…

“It feels like a tactic,” Kolivan says, mating tentacle still front and centre before Keith’s face. “It has to be. Everyone knows that you don’t breed a breeder that way, he must be gullible enough to think that would work, or-”

_ Or… _ muses Keith.  _ Or… this other merperson’s figured out a way to still have fun with their mate when the eggs are long gone.  _ He can’t be the only one… there have to be other breeders out there that want that feeling outside of season. Maybe… maybe this breeder Antok’s talking about’s found a way to get his mate sufficiently in the mood. 

He eyes Kolivan’s tentacle more closely now, still suspended in the waters, forgotten by Kolivan as he and Anotk continue to joke over the ridiculousness of mating mouths. It’s… it’s so close, it wouldn’t be hard at all to just reach out, grab it…

_ -eith, what do -- think? _

He jolts upright, Kolivan’s arm swinging further away from him as he startles up to look at Antok’s expectant face. 

“Right, good idea. Keith, what’s your opinion on this business? A breeder not having the right hole mated, that can only be for their own selfish reasons, right?”

“I mean…” Keith says, still watching Kolivan’s tentacle as it sways closer with gesture. “Maybe? But also… I can kind of see that they might be onto something.” Fuck, it’s within arms reach, he could totally grab it, totally take it in his hands-

“Onto something how? Kolivan scoffs, tip of his tentacle whizzing beneath Keith’s nose. “The point of breeding is to deposit eggs, then ensure their seeding. Outside of that, what is there?”

Keith squints up at Kolivan. The larger merman is looking down at him with a mix of confusion and incredulity.  _ Did he… did he seriously  _ **_not_ ** _ get it? _ Kolivan, the merman who’d fucked him day by day of his brooding, who’d worked him up to boiling under his tentacles, riding out his own quiet orgasm as Keith screamed through his. Kolivan, who sulked whenever Keith’d spend more than a handful of hours out of arm’s reach from him ever since he’d returned, who even now was rubbing slow circles into his sides, close, painfully close to where Keith wanted them to be but never wandering  _ there _ , not even after Keith’s release was diffusing through the waters of their shared room, not even-

_ No… It couldn’t be.  _ Keith’s lips purse together, eyes narrowing at he studies Kolivan closer. Kolivan was plenty experienced, there was no way it was that simple. Unless it was. Which meant- 

His gaze flicks back to Kolivan’s mating tentacle, still aloft and not tucked back into the skirt of his mantle. “Well…” he says, letting his fingers creep closer, “for starters I can see it giving a breeder a break from things. After all,  _ some people _ act like it’s their responsibility to make sure they’ve milted their mate dry.”

Kolivan chuckles, fingers carding through Keith’s hair. “As it should be. I don’t remember  _ you  _ having any issues with it at the time. You’d get impatient if you went too long.”

“ _ Kolivan!” _ Keith squeaks, ears warming. “You don’t just  _ say _ that!” Kolivan has no idea how  _ painfully true _ his words are, and his hold on Keith’s hips now add nothing to the reminder of just how long a dry spell has gone on between the two of them. He’s been impatient for weeks now, waiting for Kolivan to make some kind of move, bind him up in his arms and have his way with him. He’s tried hinting,  _ hell, _ he’s basically tried getting caught in the act, and  _ neither  _ have worked. 

“That’s…” he licks his lips, “you’re making me lose my train of thought. What was I…”

“Over enthusiastic mates I believe.”

“Right.” He shoots Kolivan a look, trying to recollect himself. He’s rattled now, thanks to Kolivan spreading secrets about him so freely in front of Antok. It wasn’t fair. Kolivan always flustered him so easily. He never….

Keith forces himself to relax, fingers coming to rest on his lap. He rolls his neck, looking up to Kolivan from behind the fan of his bangs. When he speaks there’s a shift in his voice.

“Of course, my mistake. Breeders looking for a bit of a break. It makes sense, doesn’t it? I don’t know this guy you’re talking about, but maybe his mate sometimes wants thirty seconds relief before going again.”

The octopus’s eyebrow cocks. “Hmm, and you’re suggesting all breeders feel the same?” 

“ _ Hell no _ ,” Keith snorts, insides buzzing. “But I sure as seafoam can see some of the perks of doing it. Here, like this.”

He yanks Kolivan’s tentacle out of the water, hard enough to squeeze out a startled yelp as he brings it up to his face. Around him Kolivan’s entire body goes taught, Keith lashed tight in his suctioned arms as the two humanoid ones freeze mid-motion. In his fist it wriggles weakly, almost as if it’s looking for a way out. Almost. 

“For starters,” Keith says, bringing a finger up to the quivering tip. “I can finally get a decent look at the thing. As much as it might  _ go _ places they’re not exactly ones where you see much of the action. Can barely tell this little guy apart from all your other ones.” He runs his fingertip down the side experimentally, letting it drag between the crevices of Kolivan’s suckers. Around him, Kolivan lets out a shiver. 

Keith smiles, then moves on with his inspection.

If you didn’t look closely, it really did seem to be just like all of Kolivan’s other tentacles. The top still had that same slick but textured feel to it, the same greyish purple and pale-blue mottling to it. Practically felt the same too, even if to Kolivan it didn’t seem that way, his usually smooth movements short and choppy as Keith kept exploring. 

“It’s supposed to… blend...” Kolivan says, hands moving up shakily towards Keith’s shoulders. He ignores it.

If he looked closer, studied it a little more, he could pick out little differences in it. Unlike Kolivan’s other tentacles, the suckers on the bottom of this one deeped towards inky red instead of fading out. The skin underneath too, that was different too. Slightly paler, almost rosier, just barely so you’d mistake it as a trick of the light at first. And the flesh… Keith worms his finger against it again, rubbing up right between two minute suckers. Softer… far more yielding that Kolivan’s other tentacle-tips. Sensitive too, by the looks of things, the space beneath his finger growing a few shades pinker. 

“ _ K-keith-”  _ Kolivan grunts, and there’s something in that voice, a slight quiver that has Keith’s fingers roaming further. He moves up closer to the tip, right up to the barely there slit that marks the opening to Kolivan’s egg duct. “You can… It’s camouflage, nothing special. It’s like that so-” Keith’s thumb brushes over the entrance, “ _ ss- _ so no one can target it!”

“Like this?” Keith asks.

The red of Kolivan’s eartips and brows seem to have somewhat bled down his face when he glances up to look at him. It’s a new look on him, Keith notes, thumb now twirling around Kolivan’s tip. It seems to intensify too, every time he brushes past the slit, a slight flare of color in Kolivan’s cheeks with each pass, even if the rest of his face is fighting to keep some shred of it’s usual stoic self. 

“N-not exactly…” He’s breathy now, like Keith’s never seen him before. “For… for competitors… wanting to keep me from-  _ ah! _ ” Keith lets his nail drag across the slit and Kolivan sucks in a gasp like a fish out of water, desperate for oxygen. “-from acquiring a mate!” Kolivan’s other tentacles are stirring over Keith’s body now, squirming in place, desperately trying to restrain themselves from moving. “ _ Keith _ ,” he gasps, as the seahorse repeats the motion. “ _ Keith… you can stop. Please… we’re-” _

But anything else Kolivan was about to say is lost, gone in the currents as Keith slips the tip of his index finger into Kolivan’s oviduct. A gasp, keening and desperate, higher than Keith could ever think possible from his mate slips out from between his lips as he shakes on the spot. Gone is the usual calm control from Kolivan’s eyes. They’re wide and glassy, as open as his hanging mouth as Keith fucks his finger forward a half step, before screwing shut with a full body tremour as Keith pulls back out. 

_ ‘Kolivan. Did you just…?’ _

The octopus’s eyes snap open, face as flaming red as his earfins as Antok slapped them with a searing hot reminder they weren’t alone. 

“I… I…”

Keith’s suddenly crushed in Kolivan’s arms, the larger mer is trying to hide behind him, suckers latching hold, slime rubbing against his skin. 

Keith looks down at the arms wrapped around his chest. Something’s secreting from Kolivan’s tentacles, something slick, something warm, something… familiar. He can’t place it at first, what it is, but then the warmth begins to spread, sliding down Keith’s body, moving closer and closer to a place he knows all too well. 

_ Oh. _

_ ‘You did, didn’t you?’  _ Antok’s looking at them with a mix of amusement and distain. 

Keith can hardly believe it, even as Kolivan tries even harder to hide behind him. “Did you… did you orgasm Kolivan?” he whispers. “From  _ that? _ ” 

“I did  _ nnnnnn-OT!” _

Keith, finger still halfway in Kolivan’s slit, fucks it forward a centimeter. Kolivan’s eyes go wide, whole face blooming momentarily scarlet as lubricant squelches out around Keith’s fingertip. Both seahorse and squid exchange looks. Antok’s practically on the verge of laughing, his shoulders are desperately trying to keep from bouncing as he points at Kolivan.

_ ‘You did! And you almost did again!’ _

Keith carefully withdraws his finger, watching every twitch of Kolivan’s face as it slides out. The ovipositor almost seems to chase his hand as he loosens his grip, looking for the tight hold of his fist, Kolivan’s other arms mirroring it as one brushes up against Keith’s entrance and  _ fuck _ if that doesn’t make Keith’s cheeks burn a few shades brighter too.

“Antok, it’s not my fault. Keith was the one who-”

_ ‘The one who decided he couldn’t wait until I was gone?’ _

“N-no…” Keith blanches, realizing what this must look like to Antok. They’d just been talking about his relationship troubles and now... “I was just… Kolivan  _ asked!  _ And I…”

_ Fuck,  _ it’s so much harder to focus now. His skin is burning where Kolivan’s tentacles are secreting against it, heartbeat racing in his chest, blood pumping through his ears as every sensation suddenly becomes ten times as intense.  _ Was he always this affected by this, or has waiting this long made him that much more desperate? _ Kolivan’s suckers are walking over his entrance now, like little mouths sucking and nipping at its folds, tugging them apart and letting them slip back together.His insides feel too empty, walls buzzing with desperation for something to slide against them and slit them apart. Keith finds himself wanting to touch down there, wanting to take Kolivan’s tentacle and ram it in there, fuck himself on it like he’s been wanting for weeks. 

_ ‘No, I get it,’ _ Antok says with a dramatic rolling of his hood, sarcasm dripping from his motions. ‘ _ You’re both happily mated and the very mention of another mated pair makes you both want to go off and-’ _

_ “Kolivan hasn’t fucked me in months!!” _

It spews out of Keith’s mouth before he can stop it. He claps a hand over it, but it’s too late. He’s just up and thought vomited over everything and-

_ ‘WHAT?’  _ Antok chokes. 

“K-Keith!!” Kolivan lets out a noise like a mortified blowfish behind him

“I’m sorry!” he croaks, body practically on fire now. “I just… I can’t focus right now because you’re making that… aphrodisiac stuff, and  _ it’s true! _ ”

“But-”

_ ‘You haven’t?!’  _ Antok is outright laughing now, whole body shaking as several of his limbs point at them both.  _ ‘All this time, I thought you two were doing the deep water dance and it turns out you haven’t so much as  _ touched _ each other outside of spawning season! Kolivan, the  _ same Kolivan  _ who bragged about breeding his mate thrice a day… Kolivan, mister ‘don’t touch my mate our I’ll kill you’... is too conservative to mate out of season?’ _

“I didn’t… Antok stop laughing!” Kolivan yells, but any authority there is lost with the pubesent crack of his voice. “That’s what you’re supposed to do!” 

_‘Kolivan, I’ve only had one successful seasons and even_ **I** _know there’s nothing wrong with mating for other reasons.’_

“But,” stammers Kolivan, tentacles taking on a shade of red now too. “But breeders… they need to recover between clutches. You can’t just have them carry one and expect them to be ready a day later for the next. Besides, I have no eggs, I’m still replenishing from last season there’s no point!”

_‘No point?’_ Antok stops from where he’s scooping up shrimp to cock up half his hood in Kolivan’s direction. _‘Judging by Keith’s outburst and_ ** _that_** _face just now, there’s plenty of point. Just look at him!’_

Keith stops cold, two fingers on the verge of his entrance poised and ready. He hadn’t even realized he’d been doing it, the buzz of arousal hot and heavy in his bones. Even now his body itches just beyond his reach, screaming for relief. He can’t even say anything, he’s been caught red handed, nothing more than a few bubbles spilling out of his mouth like a startled guppy. 

Kolivan reaches around him, peering over his shoulder. “Keith… are you actually…”

_ ‘Yes, of course he is. And so are you.’  _ Antok slides a pile of shrimp into one of Keith’s woven bags and slings it over his shoulder.  _ ‘I swear, the two of you are worse than Regris was during his three year drought.’  _ He swims off towards the hole in the side of Kolivan’s ship, casting one final look behind him. He says something, but whatever it is it’s too faint for Keith to pick up. 

“We were  _ not _ going to do it right in front of your supper!” Kolivan shouts after him, pouting off at the receding mass that are Antok’s legs. “We were just-”

“Oh, shut up,” Keith growls, and tugs him down for a kiss. For a few seconds he catches Kolivan’s off guard, the startle of his lips against his tongue stoking the fire racing through him. Every time before this… it’d been Kolivan starting, but now… now… He purrs as Kolivan gathers himself, beginning to kiss back as hard as Keith gave and then some, fingers and suckers knotting in Keith’s hair and fins. Salt and the faint sweetness of shrimp fill his mouth as he surrenders to Kolivan, letting the octopi do with him a fraction of what he’s been looking for for so long. 

The part after what feels like minutes, gasping and panting against one another. Kolivan’s chest heaves against Keith’s palms, hands on the seahorse’s hips as he pulls the two of them flush against one another. 

“I never stopped to think… I just assumed you wanted companionship outside of season.”

Keith’s hand rubs circles into Kolivan’s pec, the other sliding down between them. “You really think after the way you fucked me when you knocked me up, I’d be fine with just talking and hugging?  _ Really  _ Kolivan?”

He lets out a squeak as Kolivan squeezes his ass, two of his tentacles worming their way between their bodies and coming to rest against his opening. “In my defense, other breeders I’ve been with in the past have wanted nothing to do with me after that, performance or not.”

“Well, I’m not your average breeder,” he grins, fingers finding and grasping what he’d been looking for with a sudden yelp from Kolivan. He brings the mating tentacle up between them, coiling around his fist in front of their eyes. “And if you haven’t figured that out yet, well, you’re about to when I show you a whole other way I can fuck this thing of yours.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like at some point poor antok needs to get some tail. Been debating back and forth who it should be though. Way back when I was considering Hunk and Lance during a combined Beta-Omega heat… but then again… Shiro’s twin who just so happens to have a taste for tentacle hentai… tempting…
> 
> As of now I'm definitely thinking this is going to be longer than 3 chapters, I need to make up for the little bit of cucking I feel like this ended on, but when you're dragging yourself out of writer's block you don't wanna put out subpar porn when you're not on your A game. Defs looking to make it up to you guys in the next one though, so if there's any naughty little tidbits you'd be down for let me know ;D


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you thought I'd keep going easy on the porn well that time has ended my friends HERE'S A FULL CHAPTER OF THE GOOD STUFF. 
> 
> If you stumbled into here not knowing the rest of what goes down in the series: hello, maybe check out the tags or part one to figure out if you're down with this. Otherwise, say hello to some good old fashioned tentafuckery >:3c

Keith’s enjoying this new dynamic.

Not that he hadn’t been enjoying himself before either. Kolivan had finally started to open up after his return, and over time, so had he. One by one, they’d begun swapping stories, pasts and memories both good and bad. Keith’d shared his childhood, how he’d been raised by his mother, how she’d taught him everything he knew and how he’d had to learn the hard way how to fend on his own. Kolivan had finally opened up about his past as well, and through bits and pieces Keith’d learned the reasons for the jagged scar striping over his one eye and the faint webbing of them across his back. It was intimate, but at the same time… there was something lacking. And after months apart, Keith knew exactly what it was. 

After all, he hadn’t expected he’d go two months without so much as a decent orgasm to show for it. Except he had, and if it hadn’t been for Antok and that dirty little seed planted in his brain he’d still be here, fingers stuffed up his cunt chasing something that was easily in Kolivan’s reach. Now though… now it’s different.

Now Kolivan pulls Keith into his lap without prompting, tentacles massaging over Keith’s front until Keith’s squirming and ready to let him do anything he wants. Sometimes… sometimes he does it so slowly, so carefully that Keith can rest for minutes in his arms, fully immersed in conversation before he even realizes he’s wet from Kolivan flicking at his entrance. Other times it’s fast, a rough thrust of an arm into Keith’s folds so strong he body alights in seconds, desperately producing slick in overtime to make up for being caught off guard. He never knows when it’ll happen, or what he’ll get, it’s always up to Kolivan’s whims, but whatever it is he knows he’ll come looking deep into those golden eyes as they glint with pride. 

In turn though, he dishes it back as good as he gets it. 

Kolivan’s surprisingly easy to toy with he’s realized. He’s tactile, and with eight arms all having half a mind of their own it’s only a matter of knowing how to play them to have Kolivan slowly turning to putty in his palms. For most of them, it’s just a matter of stroking, providing the hint of coiling to have them start to wrap around him just right, made even easier if Kolivan’s focused on another task with a handful of them. And if he distracts enough of them, has them occupied with his hands and tail, it’s only a matter of time until  _ that one _ makes an appearance, poking out from the safety of it’s brothers to assist with the task at hand. 

And from there, well… it’s a short order until he has Kolivan keeled over, face flushed and flaming as Keith brings him to orgasm again and again. 

There’s still some restraint to Kolivan’s fuckings though. His numbing secretion makes an appearance every now and then. Though the scrapes have long healed inside him some tenderness still remains. Some nights they sit there for hours, talking in low murmurs as Kolivan’s suckers kiss over Keith’s insides, gentle and soothing as his arms wrap around him and bring him over the edge into orgasm. Lately though, Kolivan uses it less and less, and each time Keith’s grateful for it more and more. Before his touches inside were slow, gentle. Now though… now there’s a cheekiness to every movement inside, an unpredictability that has Keith’s voice cracking and squeaking mid sentence as Kolivan brushes up against someplace inside him that makes him gasp, his suckers latching onto Keith’s weakest points and playing them like a fiddler crab. 

It’s to a dream like that, the ghost of those suckers walking across his walls, that Keith wakes. 

At first he’s startled, not quite sure where he is as he blinks sleepily out into the grey-green light of early morning. He feels slick and wanting, walls chasing that buzz of endorphins his dream had promised, but otherwise deeply relaxed. A quick glance down tells him all he needs to know, that  _ no, _ Kolivan’s arms haven’t delved down into there as much as he’d like them to be, but he’s still very much blanketed in them where he lies against Kolivan’s chest. 

They’d taken to sleeping together in the sling of a bed Kolivan had first made when they’d begun their partnership. The tattered sail of a hammock just barely fit the two of them, Keith often having to sleep on top of Kolivan to avoid being squished beneath his much larger mate. Still, he doesn’t. The quiet thrum of Kolivan’s heartbeat is enough reassurance to soothe even the worst discomforts of this arrangement. 

Keith props himself up from between Kolivan’s pecs to look at his mate. He’s still deep in sleep, mouth slightly open, gills pumping slowly as he dreams. It’s something in itself to watch. Every so often, the markings on his face change colour, flaring from red and lilac to white and blue. It’s a silent fluttering, like the stirring of his eyelids as he turns over, but over time Keith’s come to recognize it for what it is, nothing more than a dream response. It’s mesmerising to watch, especially when it takes over his entire body as it does now, great pale blue stripes down his arms and waist flickering in and out of existence as he smacks his lips. 

Something warm and soft bumps clumsily against Keith’s elbow. One of Kolivan’s tentacles, tip jerking slightly with whatever he’s dreaming now. Keith watches with lazy appreciation as it tries to wiggle into the warmth between his forearm and bicep, enjoying the weak touches of it’s suckers. Half of him wishes it’d been looking for warmth in other places, even as another one jerks and flops onto his back. Then again, it was his fault for falling asleep face first in Kolivan’s chest.

He returns to watching Kolivan, his own eyes growing heavy as he takes in the slow shift of patches on his face. Whatever Kolivan was dreaming about, it seemed like he was enjoying it. There’s that slight pull at the corners of his mouth that would spell a smile for anyone else, and when Keith shifts against him Kolivan lets out drowsy mumblings, hugging him closer. 

Another tentacle buts up against Keith’s chest, right into the crevice where his skin meets Kolivan’s. He lets out a chuckle. There’s already one wound around his tail and another nestled in his armpit. If it continues like this he’ll wind up completely wrapped in Kolivan’s arms in the search for warmth. He’s just about to help guide it down to where his stomach presses into Kolivan’s, the warmest spot of all right now, when Kolivan’s markings suddenly flare bright red, his gills stuttering as he lets out a sharp gasp. Keith looks down, heartbeat mounting, when he realizes it. 

“Oh, hello there.”

Sluggishly worming its way between his fingers is Kolivan’s mating tentacle. He turns it over in his hand, watching the way it reflexively tries to make its way back into the heat of his fist. Beneath him Kolivan lets out a low noise, a rumbling, sea-lion like purr as a second tentacle wraps itself around his waist. His marks have gone back to their usual patterns, albeit warmer than usual, the pale blues now a dusty lilac. Keith tightens his grip and the pinkness intensifies, loosens and it returns to normal. Kolivan mumbles something in his sleep. 

Carefully, Keith lets go. 

The reaction isn’t so much instant as it is rushed. Faster than he’d expect, Kolivan’s arms tighten around him, some suckers haphazardly latching onto him. His brow wrinkles, hips squirm against Keith’s as he lets out a bubbling grunt of loss. Stripped of its warmth, his tentacle waves in the water, searching for the source once again. He reaches out a finger to it, and in seconds it’s wrapped itself around it and nestled into the meat of his palm, Kolivan’s face returning to pinkish peace, lips parted, breathing slightly raised. 

He moves to do it again, fingers squeezing once before making to let go, but-

“ _ K-keith _ …”

He freezes, entire body going rigid. He expects Kolivan to reprimand him, for those dark golden eyes to bore into his before he’s trussed up in tentacles and taught a lesson they’ll both get something out of, but it doesn’t come. 

Kolivan’s eyes are still closed, gills panting slightly as his cheeks swell warm with every sip of water. He’s still asleep, he could just be dreaming, but-

He squeezes once more, fingers running through the suckers. 

Kolivan lets out a noise like a keaning seal, body shuddering beneath his as his head tips back, Keith’s name once again spilling from his lips. 

_ “K-keith… So good…” _

Hot colour rushes through his face in realization. Kolivan’s dreaming alright, and what  _ of _ is all too obvious. His hand’s slicked like he’s touched oil spill and it’s continuing to spread, Kolivan’s ovipositor gently moving against his palm even now, working its way even tighter into the crevices between his fingers. And with that warm tingling feeling it brings, comes a thought. 

An awful, depraved thought, but with every second more that his hand is wrapped around Kolivan, every fresh blooming of colour in his mate’s face, becomes more and more appealing. 

Keith gently kneads Kolivan’s ovipositor in his hand, carefully eying his reaction. His mate moves, sometimes groans, but doesn’t stir beyond that. He pulls himself up higher, propped on his elbows as he continues to toy, insides growing slicker by the second with the thought. 

“Feeling good?” he whispers, letting the warm rush of bubbles from his lips brush over his hand and Kolivan’s feeler. There’s a groan of acknowledgement beneath him, paired with an eager rocking of hips that grinds Kolivan’s hip bones deliciously against Keith’s own. Emboldened, Keith goes further, lips pressing kisses up and down the length of it, every gasp and latch of sucker against his face stirring him up more and more. 

“You like that?” he hums, rubbing a thumb near Kolivan’s tip. “Like me touching you like this? You won’t even let me go, you want me so bad.” He makes to loosen his grip and the entire appendage stiffens, hold tightening around Keith’s middle and ring fingers. 

“You like it warm, don’t you?” he continues, cupping his hand until the ovipositor is once again content against the heat of his skin. “You want someplace hot and wet to rest, someplace where you know you’re meant to be.” Kolivan’s breathing is faster now, almost as if he can hear Keith’s words, speeding up in time with the mounting pace of the seahorse’s pulse. 

“I think I’ve got the place for you, someplace that’ll make you  _ very  _ happy,” he coos, letting the ovipositor brush up against his cheek. “Someplace your daddy’d never let you go, at least… not before now.”

The tentacle presses close to Keith as he plants a kiss to its side, and then another, dancing slowly under his spell as his lips move up it slowly, against the back, against the suckers, rising higher… slick starting to coat his lips… until-

With a single movement Keith parts them and slips the tip inside. 

It’s nothing like Kolivan’s other tentacles, the aphrodisiac ones that would rub between his lips from time to time, willing him to open up and let them secrete that hot, burning fluid that’d spread through his insides. This one is mild, buttery, practically shy in comparison, suckers slowly walking across his tongue as he takes it in. He feeds more of it between his lips, moaning as the tip slides into one of his cheeks and forces it to bulge out. It’s warm and sweet and  _ right _ , a different pleasure to having it in his cunt, but a pleasure all the same. Unlike when it’s there, it’s sluggish, unsure, letting him manipulate it in his hands like a stunned sea cucumber. He ruts his tongue up against the underside of it and it startles against him, suckers flaring open and latching tight hold before he drags it across the roof of his mouth. 

Beneath him, Kolivan moans. 

Keith hollows his cheeks, tongue tugging and trailing across it as it bucks against it.  _ Neptune, why hadn’t he done this sooner? _ Kolivan’s squirming under him, gills flapping erratically, face markings redder than Keith’s ever seen them. He can feel everything like this, even more than in his channel, now woefully empty. He stuffs four fingers into himself, moan stifled by the ovipositor in his mouth, and continues to suck. 

_ Fuck, where should it go next? _ He thinks, rolling his tongue around it and flicking against the tip. The insides of his cheeks are already oiled with Kolivan’s slick, so smooth the tentacle’s having trouble catching hold, wriggling aimlessly at Keith’s mercy. He fucks his hand into himself, fingers surging deep, but not as deep as he’d like, still held back by the joint of his wrist.  _ Fuck… he wants it deeper, wants to feel it slide through his insides, have it fill him out entirely. _ He can feel it twist against his soft palate, lubrication dripping over it and down the back of his throat. It’s  _ so good… _ he can’t help but feed more of it into his mouth, rut his tongue against it, force it up against the back of his throat and-

The tip triggers something in Keith and he swallows. 

Both him and Kolivan jerk in unison, his eyes shoot open as the tentacle slides down his throat. A good finger’s length makes its way in before Keith manages to stall the reflex, lips stretched around the shaft in much the same way as his-  _ oh… oh cod… _

Keith lets out a moan at the feeling of the bulging skin of his throat against his hand. 

_ Oh… oh no… it feels… it feels so good.  _ Just holding it there the ovipositor gently moves, swelling in and out with the erratic pace of Kolivan’s breath. The small suckers are swiping over his insides, slipping on their own slick and his spit and… Keith moans again, drawing back slightly before bobbing his head back down against the length.  _ Fuck… his throat is so full,  _ Kolivan’s tentacle so hot it almost feels like… almost feels like… He half wants it here, half wants it in his cunt it feels that good, maybe he feels it  _ even more _ now, where his tongue and hand and lips can run over it, feel every part of it as it fills him past the point of speech. 

Keith pulls back, just enough to fit enough water down his throat and across his gills to keep the dizziness at bay. Kolivan’s so thick he hardly has enough space for anything else in him to be fed down his throat. Beneath him his mate lets out a disgruntled groan, the bulk curled against his tongue trying to stretch deeper once again. With a noise of his own Keith submits, letting Kolivan slowly slide back to the base of his tongue and swallows him once again. 

And again. 

It gets easier with every try, the buttery secretion of Kolivan’s member slicking the way more and more. Soon Keith’s feeding a good several inches into himself as he slides his own thumb in with the rest of his hand into himself below.  _ He’s so damn full… full at both ends.  _ It’s almost maddening… Kolivan’s deep inside him at his front, so much he swears there’s no more room in him for anything else, but at his cunt… Keith groans, vibrations rattling up Kolivan’s member as he stuffs his fist as far as it’ll go inside him. There… there it wasn’t enough. He can’t… he can’t  _ reach _ far enough inside himself, he can’t stretch where he  _ needs _ to be stretched, can’t come like he needs to come. He needs more… he needs it deep he needs… 

_ “Kolivan,”  _ he chokes around the ovipositor, words so muffled they make sense only in his mind. He pulls back off the arm, fighting against the feeling of loss they both twitch at. His throat is sore and stretched, words low and raspy, but he needs to say them all the same. “ _ Kolivan… Kolivan I need to-” _

His tongue juts against the slit of Kolivan’s member, and the octopus comes. 

Keith’s entire body is crushed, wracked up in the event that is Kolivan’s orgasm. His hand is fucked up inside himself as Kolivan’s hips buck against his, skin marked and and bound as Kolivan’s suckers latch their full hold. His mate’s eyes fly open, mouth agape, head swinging back in climax as his hair fans out behind him in the waves. Pulses of lubricant wash across Keith’s aching jaw and throat, ovipositor pulsing against his tongue it desperately tries to release eggs that aren’t there. It’s all he can do to hang on, to stiffle his voice on the tentacle filling it and ride it out, hovering close to the edge of his own climax but desperately, maddeningly unable to reach it. 

When the suckers release their hold enough for him to breath again, Keith’s teetering on the brink. His vision’s hazy… eyes unfocused, entire body buzzing with need.  _ More… _ he needs more…  _ just a bit more and he’ll _ …

“K-Keith…”

Kolivan’s face swims in front of him, but he’s too wound up to take it in. The full flush that covers his cheeks, the extra catch of his breathing as Kolivan tries to regain control of himself, the way his eyes widen and lips press together at the sight of his tentacle still seated between Keith’s flushed lips. Keith lets out a full on whimper as it slides out, weakly chasing it with his chin at the lost sensation, a slippery trail of Kolivan’s release stretching from his tongue to the tip before dissolving in the sea. 

“P-please…” he shudders, hips grinding up against Kolivan’s hip bones. “Kolivan… I need…”

There’s a slow dawning of realization across Kolivan’s features, a look of surprise turning to understanding as a set of large fingers slide through the mess between their torsos. He’s still flushed, ears back, almost bashful as he flips Keith around so they’re back to front, his fist-filled hole exposed to the world. 

Keith’s entire body shudders as Kolivan pulls it out. 

“Are you…”

“Woke up like this…” he breathes, arching against Kolivan trying to coax those fingers off of his slit and into it. “Wanted you… and then your tentacle… it was right there and-” he looks around, ovipositor suddenly gone from against his cheek, it’s location unknown. “W-where is it?”

Kolivan arches a brow as he slides three fingers into Keith’s hole. His hips buck and insides flutter at the familiar touch. “So you put it  _ there? _ ” he asks, avoiding the question. He adds a fourth in quick succession, fingers fucking Keith in and out with vigor. 

“Wanted to-” he whines, twisting in Kolivan’s grip. “Wanted to try it, ever since I heard about it. Wanted to make you feel good, wanted your dream to-”

Kolivan stops, four fingers deep and drags his short nails down Keith’s walls. He hisses at the pain-pleasure it brings. Keith just manages to roll his eyes back far enough to catch sight of him, cheeks darkened, markings more crimson than usual. The hand is removed. 

“Kolivan,  _ please… _ ” He’s so empty, he’s desperate. He’ll take anything. A hand, a tentacle, even a tongue, anything that’ll help him find that full feeling he needs for release. His eyes squeeze shut, hips bucking in vain against the empty sea, desperately seeking  _ something there. _

Something warm bumps against his face. 

Keith’s lashes flutter open, the fuzzy sight of Kolivan’s mating tentacle swinging before his lips. Poised below, like twin spears, are two of Kolivan’s thickest tentacles, mere centimeters from Keith’s slit.  __

“Not a word,” Kolivan whispers darkly. “Not a word to Antok, whatsoever.”

Keith nods, and suddenly his body is anything but cold and empty. His mouth and cunt are filled in seconds, Kolivan’s arms rushing into him and filling out his walls and cheeks in an instant Keith almost chokes. And then chokes, purposefully, on the ovipositor sliding down his throat. Kolivan’s tentacles in his slit ripple and shudder, stalling in their motions as he tongues the underside of Kolivan’s member. 

They slide about inside him, twisting against each other as they worm deeper into his passage, stopping only to suck and grab against weak spots only Kolivan seems able to find. Keith lets out a muffled shout as one catches against the place midway through that makes him see stars, a bundle of nerves he can only barely glance with his own hand.  _ So… so full…  _ and only getting more so. Even with his head restrained, chin held into place by the tentacle filling his mouth, he can catch sight of where they enter him, thick and muscled beyond belief only to squeeze into a hole that seems impossibly small for them both. But Kolivan found a way and  _ fuck _ if it wasn’t bringing Keith right back to the edge, those tentacles sucking in and squeezing past his rim before relaxing, explanding gently against his insides. 

The ovipositor slides out from his lips for a second, wiping Kolivan’s oily pre across his lips and giving him a chance to speak. 

“More…” he begs, squirming into Kolivan’s arms. “More… fill me up all the way. Make me-” but his final word is lost, replaced with Kolivan’s member once again as it slides back into his mouth and silences him back to a place where the only thing that exists is it and the two arms filling out the full length of his insides. He manages to catch it, keep it from sliding back down his throat right as the first of the arms in his cunt reaches the back end of his passage. 

_ “Puh-lee,” _ he begs, tongue stroking over Kolivan’s tip as he does and making the entire merman wrapped around him shudder in pleasure. “ _ Plee… moa... ‘eeper...”  _ Through the haze he tries to work his words, make every last syllable he’s able to string together dance along Kolivan’s tentacle to some fraction of the feeling he’s feeling right now. He just manages to drag a stripe along Kolivan’s slit, right before he feels something butt against his cervix. 

_ Fill me… _ he moans,  _ fill me up with you _ . 

It’s the last thought he has before Kolivan pierces through into his womb. 

Keith’s body is wracked with orgasm as sucker after sucker slides through the tight pucker of a gate, sending wave after wave of sensation flooding through him with every passing second. They keep coming, again and again, squeezing into the deepest recesses of him and curling against the contour of his belly, latching hold and milking fresh moans and pulses of release from his walls. He can feel his milk splashing over them, seeding eggs that aren’t there in vain. He just keeps coming, climax rushing, nerves and body strung so tight its like he’s turned to jellied stone in Kolivan’s grip. 

It’s still not time to be bred again, that much he’s painfully aware of, even if his body is healed and wanting. Kolivan’s new eggs are yet to come in, still weeks off, but he  _ needs  _ to feel this, needs to be stuffed full of a warmth Kolivan puts inside him, fucked to the verge his mind is melting out his ears and he’s losing all though of anything other than this feeling. His hands shoot to his middle, holding the swell that Kolivan’s tentacles make inside him as the slide in as deep as they’re able and pressing out, making the bump all the more noticle in his boiling, over-sensitive body. 

Release sputters over his tongue and Keith has to fight through the fog of pleasure to realize Kolivan’s coming as well, his hard palate being used as a rough surface to grind out one more release of silky fluid in his mouth. 

How long it takes for him to come somewhere close to back down he has no idea. He feels like he’s just swum across the entire ocean, heart thundering in his chest, muscles weak and limp with exertion. Large hands rise up to stroke the swell of his middle as well, soothing touches that make his still-sensitive body tremble. 

“Full enough?”

Keith can only nod, letting his body collapse even more into the warm embrace that is Kolivan as he recovers from the high. There’s a sliding at his entrance, an attempt to begin to pull out, but Keith throws a hand down to block it. 

“No…” he mumbles weakly, the vestiges of sleep that had eluded him what felt like hours ago suddenly creeping back onto him. “Leave them in. For now.” He strokes a palm over the swell, nothing like what he’d had before, but far from nothing in itself. Kolivan lets out a hum of acknowledgement, other arms coming up to hold Keith closer in a blanket of an embrace. 

He finds his eyes closing, mind quieting to the gentle shifting of Kolivan’s arms inside him. 

_ Two more months.  _

_ Two more months, and he could feel like this for real.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Friendly shoutout to Vixen13 for some suggestions that ended up in this chapter (you know the one c; )! Also, if anyone is interested in the real like phenomenon that's colour changing sleeping octopuses I suggest you check out this youtube video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vKCLJZbytU
> 
> One more chapter planned for this part, but there is MOST DEFINITELY going to be a next chunk I've been wanting to since... god the start of this being a series. So that is defs coming as soon as I can make it, and I'm definitely going to try and fit a little bit of Shiro's brother and Antok in there because HOLY HECK YOU GUYS ARE READY FOR IT.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somehow I've accidentally lined up my real world timing posting this chapter with the actual timing in universe. Funny how that is but it just makes me want to work harder and get cracking on the next part soon too

“Antok! Over here!”

The giant squid peeks out over a rocky, kelp-filled ridge, a wriggling, disgruntled spider crab held in his hands. He makes a disgruntled noise, and even without the wild gesturing Keith knows what he’s getting at. 

“Don’t give me that,” he pouts. “We’re not here for crab, no matter how much you want them.”

Antok jetties closer, face sulkier than the brattiest of kids. He waves the crab at Keith again, the little crustacean making another failed attempt to snap at his tentacles. He’s grown to know only too well how much Antok likes the mild sweet taste and the act of carefully extracting meat from their carapaces. It’s not going to be an easy argument to win. 

_ ‘If Kolivan’s getting what he likes, why can’t I? _ ’ Antok’s arm, pressed to Keith’s side, transmits the message loud and clear. 

“Because,” Keith sighs, setting down his knife on the rock below, “we’re here to get abalone, not crab. And because we have nothing to carry it back in.”

_ ‘We have the nets.’ _

“They’re for the snails though. These aren’t my good rope ones Antok, the crabs would cut right through them. If you wanted to catch some crabs you should have brought that human-made trap you and Kolivan found the other day.”

_ ‘That was a good meal…’ _ he hums dreamily. ‘ _ Do you think-’ _

Keith glances off into the distance, at the barely-there silhouette of Kolivan foraging beneath ropes of kelp. Picking up sea urchins, no doubt. They’d all come to hunt together, at Keith’s request, a conversation that had gone for far longer than it had to and ending with the caveat that he had to stay close to one of the cephalopods at all times. A little overprotective? Sure. But he wasn’t about to ignore the request either. 

“If you go back and get it, he’ll stick by me and catch on to what I’m doing. Please Antok, can’t we just harvest crabs another day?”

For the better part of two weeks, Keith’d been planning this, ever since he’d found Kolivan’s carefully kept collection of abalone shells. Some were whole, others were broken into pieces. Some were crudely whittled into shapes and decorations and more still were etched with minute designs. As it turned out, Kolivan had had an artsy phase when he was younger, one he’d let slide the older he grew and the more treasure he collected. He’d also, according to Antok, tried fishing solely for them during his first adult season he liked them so much, only dialing back when he realized how hard they were to find. 

Keith jams his knife between shell and rock, trying once again to pry the abalone off its perch. If Kolivan was always going to be finding things for him, well, Keith was going to do the same. Even if that meant stubbornly hacking away at their bloody, hard to remove suckers and trying to keep it as much of a secret as he could. 

Antok jimmies two arms in around Keith’s knife, and with a wet pop and a strain of the squid’s muscles, the snail pops free, Keith landing on his back clutching the thing. 

_ ‘How about I ask him to go back and get it for us? We could check out some other areas in the mean time.’ _

“That… that sounds good,” he pants. “I’ll just… scout around a little more.”

_ ‘Stay close.’ _

Keith rolls his eyes, stuffing the latest abalone in his bag. Nothing was going to happen here. He’d grown up in kelp forests like this, he knew the ins and outs of them. What lurked here, what hiding spots there were. Even right now, barely glancing around he could spot more than a dozen mounds of weed or kelp that would make for decent hideouts in a pinch. For a bit he sits there, watching Kolivan and Antok chatter away in the distance, arms dancing gracefully in the currents. He can just make out Kolivan’s exasperated tone from here, no doubt telling Antok the same thing Keith’d told him moments ago. 

_ Ah well. _

He glances around, looking for another rocky shelf of crevice where some more abalones might be lurking. In one direction the forest of kept stretched out for miles, great leafy fronds waving lazily about. The other way, they ended sharply, right up against the steep drop down, off towards the twilight zone. Several craggy rock ridges decorated the crest. 

“Well, no harm in checking it out,” he mumbles.

Still keeping a watchful eye on the silhouettes of Kolivan and Antok, he dawdles over towards the lip. They’re both still visible, the drone of their voices just on the edge of his hearing as he makes it to the first ridge. 

_ Jackpot.  _

While not swimming in abalones, the ridge is absolutely covered in shellfish. Mussels, oysters, even a scallop here or there nestled in the nearby sand. There’s enough shelfish here that even if he only finds one or two more of Kolivan’s favourites they’ll no doubt be eating well for the next several days. 

Keith hacks an oyster off the shelf, snorting at the little thing blowing a siphonful of sand and water at him. Not an abalone, but he’s pretty sure Kolivan will enjoy any pearls they might yield all the same. As smart as he was, he still couldn’t resist the temptation of a good shiny object. 

He’s gathered a good dozen in no time, still keeping a wayward eye looking backwards to make sure he hasn’t strayed too far. Kolivan and Antok are still talking, clearly bickering by the looks of it. He makes to grab for a wayward scallop stuck in a crack, only to slink back as a shadow crosses over him. 

He glances up, fins standing on end for the source. The dark black hull of a ship glides past him overhead, obscuring the halo of sunlight beaming down. Keith lets out a sigh of relief. 

“Well, who do we have here?”

Keith drops his net, whirling around, knife in front of him, facing down the merman who’d suddenly appeared. His body’s long and lanky, ears curved and swooping like horns, eyebrows raised and cartoonish like twin mountains jutting from the seafloor. His tail sweeps outwards like a cape, two wide wings flapping outwards before tapering to a narrow, horseshoe crab like tip.

Keith gulps. “No one special…” he says, eyes sweeping over the ray in front of him. The size of his wings block a good portion of Keith’s escape route back to the kelp. “Just another merperson out for a hunt, collecting a few shellfish with friends.” He makes a pointed attempt to gesture towards the forms of Kolivan and Antok.

The ray gives them a fleeting, dismissive glance over his shoulder, but all too soon his attention’s back on Keith. “Aww, come now, of course you’re special. You’re a seahorse afterall, and might I say quite the fine one at that.”

Keith prickles at his smarmy tone. “I… I have a mate, if that’s what you’re asking. Sorry, I’m not really looking for anything else right now.”

“Such a shame…” he coos, circling slowly around Keith. “You really don’t know your worth, do you? Someone like you shouldn’t have to be stuck with one mate, unable to breed you more than once a year. You should have a whole harem of partners, enough to keep you full and happy and-”

“Shut up!” Keith snaps, spinning to jab his knife within an inch of the ray. If he can just get him to turn a little bit more, stop blocking him he can make his escape. “I made my choice, it’s none of your business who my mate is, alright? It’s not even the season now, if you’re anyone worth a damn you’re probably out of eggs yourself!”

“ _ Feisty…  _ I like that. You’d be fun to break in.”

“Well, I hate to break it to you,” Keith glowers, “but that’s not up to you. Now, if you don’t mind, I’ll be getting back to  _ KOLIVAN-” _

“I don’t think so,” he hisses, Keith’s back bumping into something just as he hears Kolivan’s returned shout. Another hand grabs his shoulder, twists his arm, trying to force him to drop his knife. Keith struggles, flipping in his grip and coming face to upside-down face with a thresher shark. 

“You’re coming with us,” he grins. “Someplace where that pompous octopus can’t keep you to himself.”

Knife arm throbbing and immobilised, Keith does the only thing he can. 

Punches the shark straight in the nose. 

He’s dropped instantly, managing to get a good slice into the jerk’s side as he twists away, just managing to miss the shark’s lumbering arms. He can hear sand and rocks being ripped away as Kolivan plods towards them. 

“ _ How dare you! How dare you target Keith like that how can you-” _

The shark drops to the seafloor, the ray’s tail extending dead center and lashing out at Kolivan’s face. Keith watches, stunned as his mate recoils, clutching his face best he can as his many arms jerk and twitch erratically. The attacker grins, final few sparks crackling off the end of his tail. 

An  _ electric _ ray. Not good. 

Antok barrels towards the pack, leaping on the shark and engulfing him in the wriggling mass of his legs, trussing him up so fast the mer barely has the chance to twist and gnash out at him with fanged teeth. Kolivan though, Kolivan’s still shaken, trying to recover from the effects of the shock. Meaning Keith’s left in the open, one on one against this merman he’s  _ definitely  _ not equipped to deal with.

But fighting’s never been his strength anyway. Hiding is. Before he can lash out again Keith dodges, rolling over the crest and grabbing a heavy stone. With a clench and sucking in of his swim bladder, he launches himself off the cliff. 

The stone and negative buoyancy drag him down, down down far faster than any fluttering of his fins ever could. He rakes his eyes over the cliffside, looking for cracks, for weeds, anyplace he could dive into and hide before the ray launches himself over and after him. There’s little pockets here and there, a few scraggly patches of seaweed, but nothing he can use. 

“C’mon!” Keith grunts, willing the rock to sink him faster as he looks for a way out. Maybe if he goes deep enough it’ll be dark enough he can just double back without the ray even noticing. Maybe he can find a little shelf somewhere and bury himself in sand. With every meter he sinks, he wills the cliff to open up more and more. “You’ve gotta have something somewhere, for cripes sake, where in the-”

Something blasts him dead in the face, a burst of heat and bubbles, making him tumble and lose his grip on his stone. He scrambles for it, claws at the deep blue waters, but it sinks beyond him, tumbling down towards a vent spouting from a shallow shelf below. A shallow shelf where not one, but two startled mersharks lay in the stand, staring back at him.

Keith’s stomach plummets faster than his ballast stone. He backs up, up and towards the cliff, glancing up at the murky depths. A faint shadow looms overhead, growing darker with each passing second. 

“ _ No… _ ” 

Keith jolts back, grappling onto the cliff as one of the sharks sits up, his goateed face gaping up at him. With a flick of his tail he maneuvers towards Keith, the seahorse shrinking back, gripping his knife as he prepares for another fight. 

He doesn’t expect the outreached hand, or the anxious voice that follows. 

“You’re… you must be Keith. Why are you here? I told Kolivan he had to keep you safe, that word’s gotten around and more aggressive merfolk are following your movements! You-” he glances up, yellow eyes widening at the shadow overhead. “You… come with me, stay quiet! You have to hide!”

Keith lets out a squeak, he’s suddenly being dragged down by the shark, down towards the second one who’s still gaping up at them like a startled flounder. 

“Ulaz!” he hisses, “make a divot, now!”

“No… nonono!” Keith shoves his knife in the shark’s face, coming dangerously close to his eye. “How do you expect me to trust you? What makes you think you can just grab me and shove me where ever you want?”

The white-tipped shark loosens his hold on Keith’s wrist, gently pushing him towards the sandy seabed by the vent. “Because I bet we’re a whole lot less dangerous to you than whoever’s following you right now. And because Kolivan knows where we both live if he wants to kill us later.”

Keith freezes, sinking further towards the shallow hole the other shark’s dug. “You know Kolivan?”

The other merman rolls his eyes.  _ “Intimately,  _ though maybe he failed to mention me to you. I would be Thace, and this is-”

“Ulaz,” the other merman nods, “and you should hurry, there’s probably only a few more moments until they catch sight of us.”

Thace gently turns him over, until he’s facing the sandy bed. “I know you have no reason to trust us Keith. And we don’t expect you to. Just let us help ward off this other and if you’d like Kolivan to go after us after, well-”

“You can do that, I’m staying far away from another one of his outbursts.” The one called Ulaz’s ears dip, his body sinking back into the sand in a small dent Keith recognizes of where he’d been laying before. Something about his face is strangely familiar. 

“Quick! Stay quiet, and stay still!” Thace pushes him into the well Ulaz had just dug, settling himself on top of Keith and quickly sweeping armfuls of sand to cover his tail and sides. From the depths of Thace’s chest Keith could just make out a crack of light and a sliver of Ulaz’s face. A moment later, both were cast in shadow. 

“Care to join us?” Thace’s voice shakes through Keith’s skull as the shark pats the ground to his left. “Nothing like a bit of lounging where it’s warm.”

Even without seeing him, Keith can sense the confusion and distain in the voice that follows. “Why in Poseiden’s name would I waste my time lounging around?”

“Mmm, I suppose because it feels nice? A good relief from winter currents?”

“Of all the… it doesn’t matter! Have you seen anyone pass by here?”

Keith can  _ taste _ the ray’s seething in the water as Ulaz lazily rolls over. “I don’t think so. It’s more or less been just us until you came along.”

“You’re lying, you have to have! Just…” Keith feels Thace suck in an extra large gillful of water at something. “ _ There! That’s the rock he grabbed! He has to have gone past here!” _

Thace pushes himself deeper into the sand, covering as much of Keith as he can. “Who exactly are you talking about? That rock fell down here alone. No one was attached to it.”

“ _ Are you-?!” _ Keith fights back a noise as the cast shadow darkens, the ray all but looming over him. “Are you daft? The seahorse! The one everyone’s been looking to get their hands on! He was just here a moment ago, lept off  _ that _ cliff with  _ that _ boulder! Now either you’re lying to me or-”

“Or we’re telling you the truth,” Thace says coldly. “If you’ve been pursuing a seahorse, then you should know how they are. They’re timid, don’t do will with aggressors. And they’re better than a brine shrimp at evading capture.”

Being compared to a brine shrimp… Keith’s going to have words with him later. 

“Besides,” Thace continues, crossing his arms in front of Keith’s temple, “if we both already have our own mates, what use do we have for her?”

“You don’t…  _ seahorse breeders are male!  _ Are you even listening to a word I just said?!”

“Oh, my mistake,” Thace hums. “Well, I definitely haven’t seen a seahorse around. Male or female. And if you can’t tell, the two of us are already quite content without another breeder.”

“Yes.” More weight settles on top of Keith before he realizes what’s going on. Ulaz has shifted to lean on top of Thace, head and shoulders propped up on the crook of his back. “Quite content indeed.”

There’s a dramatic, faked retching sound above him now. “Oh cod…” the ray gags, “don’t tell me you’re both-”

“Both what, Haxus? Perfectly happy where we are?” Thace’s voice is dripping with threat, satisfied and soaked in triumph. “Maybe if you stopped seeking out things that aren’t yours, you’d find your own happiness right beyond where your blinders kick in.”

“ _ Why I ought to-” _

“ _ Please,” _ Ulaz cuts, lifting off Thace and rising up. “You’re interrupting Thace’s and my time together. If we’re of no help to you, I would appreciate it if you left us in peace, to do  _ whatever _ it is you think we do that makes you so uncomfortable.”

Keith can hear mumbled curses, feel sand whip in his face from the force of the ray’s tail. For a second, he can’t quite believe what just happened, that two strange mersharks just stepped in and saved him like that. For a while he just lays there, letting Thace and Ulaz dissolve into mindless banter, stuff about fishing and politics and missing mates. Only after Thace rolls to the side, uncovering him when the coast is fully clear does Keith move, the two other merman looking at him with a mix of exhaustion and pity. 

“We need to find Kolivan,” Thace says. “I have a feeling this isn’t going to end any time soon.”

* * *

“You  _ what? _ ”

“Relax Kolivan, he had a knife. If he wanted to, he could have stabbed me in the belly a half dozen times easily before I could do anything to him.”

They’re all back in Kolivan’s shipwreck, the front room far more crowded than usual with the addition of two other large mermen. Thace is draped against a wayward support post, Kolivan pacing back and forth. Keith’s seated in Antok’s lap, nursing several bites he’d gotten in his tussle. Ulaz – the one who’d found him after his encounter with Sendak, Keith’d realized – hangs back, hovering near the exit to the upper deck. Considering his last encounter with Kolivan Keith’d witnessed, he couldn’t exactly blame him. 

“How I ended up hiding him has little bearing on this entire situation though,” Thace continues. “ _Kolivan_ , there’s been more than just whispers in this area about Keith’s presence, there’s been outright plotting about how groups of mermen might be able to lure him away from you. I’ve even heard one or two talk about the idea of storming your home, _coming_ _here_ to get him since he’s no longer out on his own.”

“How? I thought we were careful not to-”

“People talk Kolivan. Especially people who feel like you them cheated out of something good. And if their name just so happens to rhyme with Tenblack-”

Kolivan’s arm markings flash bright blue. “ _Sendak?_ _He’s_ the reason word’s gotten out, isn’t he?”

Thace lowers his gaze. “I’m afraid so. He probably thinks that if someone else manages to take Keith from you, they’ll be much easier for him to face off against himself.”

Keith’s gut twists. He now knows enough about Kolivan to know that no merfolk in their right mind would go against a blue-ringed octopus one on one. The fact that Sendak’s using him, using the temptation of him to send countless others to fight Kolivan in his place, use them to get to him, it makes his insides sting with a ghost of how they’d stung before.

“Isn’t there something we can do though? Something to make them stop?”

Thace gnaws on a finger, glancing nervously between Keith and Kolivan. “I’m not sure. If two were bold enough to go after you with Kolivan within sight of you, it’ll only be a matter of time before another group make an even rasher attempt. And with spawning season still another few months away…”

Keith nods, the reality of it all too real. Until Kolivan’s eggs came and were deposited in him, he’d be viewed as open season to anyone looking. 

“Well… we’ll just have to increase our guard until then,” Kolivan mumbles. His ears are twitching now, something they only do where he’s deeply upset. “Thace… you’re trustworthy enough, you can help… and your friend too, I guess.”

_ ‘Not worth it,’ _ Antok rumbles beside Keith.  _ ‘Four of us protecting one breeder? The rest of us will have no chance ourselves next season.’ _

“Thace’s friend… just because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time doesn’t mean I have any intentions for him! You would check on any breeder too if they looked as beat up as he did, not just pass blindly by…” The nurse shark’s ears droop, his whole body sinking further into the staircase as he sulks.

“As much as I hate to admit it, Antok has a point Kolivan. We all support your courtship, but that doesn’t make it easy to reject chances at our own. Besides, Ulaz can’t simply abandon his mate to help yours.”

_ ‘Right… you have one now, don’t you?’ _

“Yeah…” Ulaz hums, “they’re great.”

“Well, I’m not abandoning Keith. And I’m not leaving him vulnerable to some thugs taking advantage of him. If none of you will help me, I’ll just do it myself!”

“We’re not letting you do that,” Thace sighs, moving forwards to pat Kolivan on the shoulder and guide him to sit. “We just have to think of a plan.”

The five of them fall into silence, nothing but the sound of their gills pumping between them. 

“I could always kill Sendak,” Kolivan grumbles. “ _ That  _ should leave a strong enough message.”

_ ‘He’s got a point.’ _

“Maybe… maybe we’ll save murder for plan B… _ ”  _ Thace gulps. “Anyone else?”

_ ‘We could just fill him up with something else. That way, even if someone did manage to get close enough to breed him, there wouldn’t be any space for them.’ _

“And just what exactly are you planning to fill him with? Eggs? Sand?” 

_ ‘Rocks, mainly _ . _ ’ _

“H-how about another plan?” Keith stammers, taking a few fin strokes back from Antok. “Ideally… I’d rather stay mobile if someone’s out to get me. We could find me a hiding place, somewhere in plain sight no one would ever look. It’s how I always managed before.”

“Except this time you’re not on your own,” Thace sighs, rubbing his temples. “Kolivan’s your mate now, and I’m quite sure any place that’s small and inconspicuous enough for you isn’t big enough for him. Not to mention, someone is bound to track him going to and from your hideout. He’s not about to just let you hide on your own for the rest of the winter. You need some place no one would even think to look for you, some place no merfolk in their right mind would go, you’d need-”

“A house?”

“No Ulaz, not a house. Kolivan’s home is already gaudy as is, another house is going to be equally as-”

“No,” Ulaz blinks at all of them. “I’m not talking about another ship or a cave. A house house. A human one. Right in the harbour where no merfolk go.”

“Ulaz,” “Kolivan says. “I’m not dismissing your creativity, but how on cod’s blue earth do you expect us to find-”

“I know one.”

“You  _ what? _ ”

“I know a house. A human one, right where their boats moor and no one ever goes.”

“You… you have a human’s house?” Kolivan echoes, and for the first time in half an hour he’s more shocked than anxious. “You… you just go to one, flop around and let humans see you?”

“Well, no.” Ulaz’s nose wrinkles, arms crossed across his chest. “I go through the hole in the middle of it. So long as you stay away from the non-tinted windows its fine. And I’m sure if we explained to Shiro he’d understand why Keith needed to stay with him.”

“There’s a  _ human _ there too?” Kolivan’s shaking his head, Antok’s visibly recoiling. Keith fidgets in place, looking from Ulaz to Kolivan. Someplace human would  _ definitely _ keep most merfolk away, and it’d probably be one of the last places anyone would ever look for him. But still…

“How do you know they won’t just turn around and sell him when we’re not looking? How do you think we can trust them?”

“Simple,” Ulaz shrugs. “If I can trust him with my pups, you can trust him with Keith. He is my mate after all.”

“Your mate,” Kolivan stammers. “You have… a human mate. _A human_." He slowly spins around, face drained of colour. "Thace, did you-”

“Yes, but it wasn’t my place to tell anyone.” The white-tipped shark gives Ulaz a wry smile from where he rests. “It’s unorthodox, but I can’t say I’m not proud of him for putting himself out there like that.”

_ ‘I knew it! I knew there was a reason he was able to find one!’  _ Antok’s dancing almost gleefully on his tentacle tips.  _ ‘See? I’m not the only one struggling with breeders!’ _

“Yes Antok,” Kolivan sighs, massaging his head as he looks from Keith to Ulaz. “Ulaz, are you sure your... mate would even humour this?”

“Fairly,” he shrugs, “but I’d have to ask him. I could try and text… or phone…”

“Alright, alright, I get it.” Kolivan waves an arm at him, before crawling forwards and resting his hands on Keith’s shoulders. They’re warm with reassurance, but Keith doesn’t miss the tremble in them. “Keith… are you sure you’re alright with this?”

He licks his lips. The idea of being around a human, close to humans, at risk of being found is scary. But the thought of Kolivan getting attacked for him, scarred or injured… its worse. Kolivan’s not to blame for him being born this way, or single-handedly responsible for the string of events that have led up to this decision. If Kolivan can face it head on, fight for what matters to him, he can too.

“Yes,” he nods, hands moving to cup Kolivan’s. “I’m willing to try it, if it means protecting all of us.”

“Attaboy,” chuckles Thace, swimming into view beside Ulaz. “Not a feeble bone in your body.”

“He’s the only one here with bones Thace.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's right, we're headed to the surface people!!!


End file.
